Backing or shoving of railcars during darkness or nighttime hours presents and gives rise to significant hazards and dangers resulting from combined effects of low rearward visibility and a lengthened stopping distance. A freight train being backed at a near walking speed of 5 mph is typically capable of stopping within a distance between 90 feet and 125 feet. During hours of darkness, especially on moonless nights, a massive track obstructing object such as a stationary railcar, a passenger vehicle, or a truck located as close as 75 feet behind the backing train may not be visible to a lookout operator stationed at the rear of the train. In such circumstances, the lookout may be incapable of signaling for commencement of braking prior to the train's passage of a stopping distance boundary defined in front of the obstruction. In such circumstances, a destructive and potentially life threatening collision is often unavoidable.
A commonly known method for avoiding such collisions provides such lookout operator at the rear of a train with a battery powered electrical torch or flashlight. Such method typically undesirably occupies one of the operator's hands with the flashlight, giving rise to a risk of falling. Such method further undesirably results in intermittent and inaccurate rearward pointing of the electric flashlight. Such known method also continuously threatens the interruption of needed rearward illumination. In the event of an unexpected battery failure or dissipation of charge, rearward illumination ceases, and the risks of a train backing collision are undesirably increased.
The instant inventive railcar shove light solves or ameliorates the problems, defects, and deficiencies set forth above by providing a specially adapted railcar shove light apparatus which is capable of producing consistent, accurate, and hands free rearward illumination while eliminating any need for or reliance upon provided charged batteries.